Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition

The setting for the competition

The Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition (Japanese: タッグバトル大会 Tag Battle Tournament) is an anime-exclusive tournament consisting of Tag Battles that is held in a large stadium in Hearthome City, Sinnoh. It is one of the city's biggest attractions, along with its Pokémon Contest and the fashion show promoted by the Poké Chic magazine.

The competition is broadcast on television and hosted by Enta. It was first mentioned in Dawn's Early Night! and it took place from Tag! We're It...! to Smells Like Team Spirit!. Ash and Brock decided to enter the tournament after learning about it from Nando, while Dawn was registered as per Zoey's suggestion following her failed Double Performance in the Hearthome Contest.

The Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition is notable for a number of important events, such as the group's first encounter with Conway and the release of Paul's Chimchar, something which allowed the Chimp Pokémon to join Ash's party. It was referenced in many later episodes as well, including Arriving in Style!, Dawn of a Royal Day!, and Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!.

Competition

The Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition accepted 32 registrations. When registering for the tournament, each Trainer was given an entry card with a number on its front. During the opening ceremony, a computer shuffled all the cards, randomly pairing up two numbers and forming 16 different teams. After that, Trainers started looking for the person holding the card whose number was matched with the number on their card.

With the teams formed, the tournament began with the Tag Battles taking place one at a time. All battles were observed by a referee. The prize is two Soothe Bells, one for each winner.

Known participants

Ash holding the Soothe Bell he won

Pokémon used in competition

Ash

Pikachu ♂

Turtwig ♂

Staravia

Chimchar ♂

After Chimchar was released by Paul in Glory Blaze!, he joined Ash's team and was used in the final battle.

Dawn

Piplup ♂

Pachirisu

Buneary

Buizel ♂

Brock

Sudowoodo ♂

Croagunk ♂

Paul

Chimchar ♂

Torterra

Elekid → Electabuzz

Conway

Slowking

Aggron

Heracross

Holly

Wingull

Nosepass

Farfetch'd

Giant

Koffing

Pokémon used by other Trainers

Scyther	Magmar	Yanma	Bagon
Rhydon	Tauros ♂	Granbull	Hitmonchan ♂
Furret	Metagross	Zangoose

In other languages

Language Title Dutch Hearthome City Koppelgevecht Competitie Finnish Hearthome Cityn Tag-ottelukilpailu French Tournoi en double d'Unionpolis German Herzhofen-Zweiermatch Italian Torneo a doppi incontri di Cuoripoli Polish Zawody Dwuwalk Miasta Hearthome Brazilian Portuguese Competição de Batalhas em Dupla da Cidade de Hearthome Spanish Latin America Batalla Corazonada Spain Combate Corazón Swedish Hearthome City parstridtävlingen

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.